Excerpt 1: Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 7 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth is speaking to himself and listing the reasons he should not kill Duncan.[Macbeth.] He’s here in double trust:First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,Who should against his murderer shut the door,Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this DuncanHath borne his faculties so meek, hath beenSo clear in his great office, that his virtuesWill plead like angels trumpet-tongu’d againstThe deep damnation of his taking-off;And pity, like a naked new-born babe,Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin, hors’dUpon the sightless couriers of the airExcerpt 2: Read the excerpt from act 2, scene 3 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth, who has murdered Duncan, is describing why he has just killed the sleeping guards who were supposed to be protecting Duncan.Macbeth. Who can be wise, amaz’d, temperate and furious,Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man:The expedition of my violent loveOutran the pauser, reason. Here lay Duncan,His silver skin lac’d with his golden blood;And his gash’d stabs look’d like a breach in natureFor ruin’s wasteful entrance: there, the murderers,Steep’d in the colours of their trade, their daggersUnmannerly breech’d with gore: who could refrain,That had a heart to love, and in that heartCourage to make ’s love known?
A
through Macbeth’s descriptions of DuncanB
through Macbeth’s references to Duncan’s murderC
through the external conflict between Macbeth and DuncanD
through the external conflict between Macbeth and the guards